Kindle Fire Auto-Update Scorches Roots, Shutters Android Market

Amazon rolled out its newest software update for the Kindle Fire — version 6.2 — this evening. Initial reports indicate that it both de-roots your jailbroken device and removes access to the Android Market. But don’t worry — the borking is reversible.

Amazon has actually been rather sneaky about this update, providing very few details about the upgrade to the public before quietly rolling it out. What’s more, the update apparently activates automatically upon detection of a Wi-Fi connection without user intervention (read: any means to prevent it) while wiping any roots it discovers and occasionally removing Android Marketplace installs. The kicker — the update is 181MB, a hefty chunk of data if you’ve got your Fire tethered to a smartphone.

Our own Chris Beidelman updated his rooted Kindle Fire this evening to test and confirms the auto-update function engages as soon as the battery hits 40 per cent capacity and the system is suspended. The update did only wipe his root, sparing his installed Android Marketplace — coincidentally, other outlets have reported that any downloaded apps will remain functional regardless of whether or not the marketplace works. On the plus side, the new update does seem to increase the tablet’s input responsiveness.

Hardly. If they are pushing an update then they don't want to contend with all possible changes that rooting the tablet could bring. By resetting back to a default install they can promise that the update will be a stable platform. You can still re-root the tablet... or would you prefer they just bricked the tablet because of an incompatibility with a custom OS?